Therefore... how would I rank all of the "major" Kurumada manga?
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| It's like some bizarre, (mostly) bishonen, likely violent Brady Bunch! |
So, to begin with, a few of ground rules to establish. First, one-shots are not included in this ranking, which therefore DQs Mabudachi Jingi, Shiro Obi Taisho, & the Jitsuroku! Shinwakai quartet from contention; everything being ranked is a multi-chapter run. Second, only manga drawn by Masami Kurumada himself count, so no spin-offs (especially since I've only fully read two of them). Finally, the reason why I feel fine doing a ranking now, despite still missing seven Kurumada manga, is because the remainder are either one-shots (so they'd be DQ-ed regardless) or they are supplemental works (namely to Saint Seiya & Fuma no Kojirou) that arguably wouldn't be able to stand on their own. Sure, this ranking includes two sequel manga, but both of those are long-runners, so they have more than enough content to them that they can both stand on their own as individual works. With that in mind this results in 14 different Kurumada manga eligible for ranking (in chronological order): Sukeban Arashi, Ring ni Kakero, Fuma no Kojirou, Raimei no Zaji, Otoko Zaka, Saint Seiya, Aoi Tori no Shinwa - Blue Myth Overture, Silent Knight Sho, Akane-Iro no Kaze -Shinsengumi Keppu-ki-, B't X, Evil Crusher Maya, Ring ni Kakero 2, Saint Seiya: Next Dimension, & Ai no Jidai -Ichigo Ichie-. While this allows me to split this ranking up evenly across two parts (#14 to #8 & #7 to #1), it also coincidentally enough results in the lower half being all of Kurumada's short-run works, while the upper half is all of Kurumada's long-running works, so it also effectively acts as separate rankings of both his short-run & long-running manga.
So, without further ado, here is how I personally would rank Kurumada's "major" manga, starting with his short-run work:
#14
This is here kind of only via technicality because it's both not a one-shot, as it did get what amounts to a second chapter, & also is an original work within Kurumada's catalog. However, that also means that, by any real measure, there's no way this manga can be anything higher than the lowest official ranking. After Saint Seiya came to an end in late 1990, Masami Kurumada didn't wait too long to showcase his next manga, though in this case it was done more as an experiment. Appearing the Spring 1991 Shonen Jump Seasonal Special, which at the time was the consistent home of one-shots from both new & experienced mangaka (plus the continued serialization of Kazushi Hagiwara's Bastard!!), Aoi Tori no Shinwa/Myth of the Blue Bird was Kurumada's first sports manga since Ring ni Kakero (& the very beginning of Fuma no Kojirou), though in this case the sport chosen was baseball. It stars Aoi Tendo, who wishes to get retribution for his older brother, a high school pitcher who died of cancer shortly after the prodigal batter Shingo Ouki managed to get a home run on him during a game at Koshien, by wanting nothing more than striking out Ouki. Unfortunately, Aoi's pitches are way too powerful for any catcher to properly take, until a boy named Ai offers to be Aoi's catcher, at least for the year Ai has left to live, due to his own weak condition. This one-shot must have done decently enough, as less than a year later a second "chapter" of Aoi Tori no Shinwa appeared in the Winter 1992 Shonen Jump Seasonal Special, where Aoi & Ai take on Ryugo, the younger brother of Ouki, & Aoi manages to pitch the "Thunderball", which sends the ball on a physics-defying zig-zag path & strikes out Ryugo, with the final page seemingly indicating that Ryugo would join Aoi & Ai on their "journey".
Now, to be fair, Aoi Tori no Shinwa isn't bad, & the two "chapters" are perfectly fine in their own right. The Thunderball pitch itself definitely introduces an element to the plot that wasn't in the original "chapter", but it matches Kurumada's own penchant for over-the-top & wild moments, while also essentially being an homage to Team Astro, the 70s Jump baseball manga that Kurumada took influence from when deciding to turn Ring ni Kakero into more of an action spectacle. However, there's really nothing else to Aoi Tori no Shinwa, as it's pretty much a prologue to absolutely nothing. Despite getting a second installment nothing actually came about from those appearances in Jump's Seasonal Specials, and Kurumada has never really indicated anything about Aoi Tori no Shinwa ever coming back in any form whatsoever; it didn't even get its first collected release until 1998. While this is not the only manga in this half of the rankings to be unfinished, this is the only one to actually feel like it never even got going, really. Instead, it simply comes off more like two one-shots that are just interconnected with each other, hence why I call its inclusion here more of a technicality than anything. If you're really that curious it did get a fan translation over a decade ago, it's how I was able to review it back in 2012, but there's truly no reason for anyone to read Aoi Tori no Shinwa, outside of the most hardcore of Masami Kurumada fans.
#13
You'd think that it'd be weird for a proper weekly serialization to appear this low in the rankings, but there's a simple reason for that: Neither of Kurumada's two shortest serialized manga are anywhere near his "strongest" work. I even initially wasn't sure which order they should go in, but in the end I'm fine with the rankings I gave them. Therefore, coming in the second-lowest spot in this ranking would be 1992's Silent Knight Sho, which was effectively Kurumada's proper "follow up" to Saint Seiya after Aoi Tori no Shinwa seemingly failed. The general rumor regarding the creation of Sho was that Kurumada was simply told by Shueisha to just recreate what he had done with Saint Seiya, seemingly in a case of "Yeah, we know we forced you to end that title earlier than you had wanted... but you can just make another one, right?". And, to be fair, Sho debuted nearly two whole years after Seiya had ended, and Shonen Jump by that point only had a literal handful of manga still running that had also been around in late 1990, so one could argue that there was a new generation of Jump readers unfamiliar with Seiya; the concept sounds a bit lazy, but there was some logic to it. The end result, then, was the story of Sho, a high school student with a pet falcon who finds out that he's actually a "Demigod", i.e. a human who is capable of "evolving" into an armored form based on his own personal "Root" (in Sho's case it's the falcon, like the pet that sacrificed itself to protect him), and he joins forces with Shirin (whose Root is the fairy) to take on Neo Society, a secret organization of Demigods who wish to kill all of "Old Humanity" due to their inability to evolve.
In essence, Silent Knight Sho took the basic concept of Saint Seiya, i.e. armored warriors who protect the world from evil, but instead of going with more of a mystical bend by way of the Greek pantheon Kurumada went with more of a pseudoscientific bend, as the concept of Evolution & Roots is based on the (now defunct) triune brain model. It's definitely all sorts of silly, even more so than Saint Seiya's concept of Cosmo & the like, but there were some interesting nuggets of ideas & themes that Kurumada was seemingly going for in Silent Knight Sho. It's just a shame that it got cancelled after only 13 weekly chapters, so whatever nuggets of ideas that had some merit really require one to make inferences & guesses based off of what little actually got made. For example, the final chapter seemingly hints that Sho & his fellow anti-Neo Society comrades had different ideals that would make it tough for them to be as instantly allied as the Bronze Saints were, and since B't X would do something similar with its cast it really seems as though whatever ideas Kurumada had for Sho were instead just carried over into his next major work. Also, it's no exaggeration to say that Silent Knight Sho is really only known today for its infamous final page, which shows Sho standing defiant & willing to fight on, even if it's only for the sake of a single human life... while right at the very bottom Kurumada put "NEVER END" in bold lettering. This would be the final manga page Kurumada would ever draw for Weekly Shonen Jump, a direct statement of just how done he was with it all, and how he simply wanted to get out after around 18 years of service to the magazine.
Without a doubt, there's little to no reason for anyone to read Silent Knight Sho, unless you're the most fervent fan of Masami Kurumada's works & desperately wish to read every little manga he's ever drawn (Hi there!). I won't say that it's terrible (it's honestly too short to be anything other than existent), but simply due to the fact that two whole volumes-worth of content were made that puts it above Aoi Tori no Shinwa by default; beyond that it's nothing special at all.
#12
Meanwhile, just above Silent Knight Sho in the ranking is Masami Kurumada's very first serialized manga, made back in the mid-70s. First appearing in the latter half of 1974, Sukeban Arashi/Delinquent Storm is a manga that actually had a bit of a curious serialization history due to real world events. Namely, the 1973 oil crisis (a.k.a. the "first oil shock") had hit Japan notably hard during that year, and while things were leveling out in 1974 it still affected various companies, including print publishers like Shueisha. Therefore, in an effort to save some money, it was decided that Weekly Shonen Jump would cut various manga that were running at the time in order to trim the size of the magazine, with probably the most notable victim of this being the late Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen. While two one-shots had appeared about a month prior, the same exact issue that saw Jump's final chapter of Barefoot Gen also saw the debut of Sukeban Arashi, which detailed the life of Rei Kojinyama, a rough & violent tomboy who tries her best to actually be more ladylike, so as to honor the memory of her deceased mother. Unfortunately, after only five chapters (all of which were standalone stories, minus some minor continuity) the manga was put on indefinite hiatus, seemingly due to the aforementioned oil crisis-induced money saving. However, the manga itself wasn't cancelled, and in mid-1975 Sukeban Arashi was brought back as though it was a brand new manga, with this second run focusing on Rei's rivalry with Shizuka Ayanokouji, a rich transfer student who believes herself superior to everyone, eventually climaxing in a rollerball/soccer game between Rei & her classmates and Shizuka & her lackeys; this second run would end after an additional 20 weekly chapters about a year after the initial hiatus started. In fact, Sukeban Arashi wouldn't even get collected into tankouban format until 1977, with two volumes collecting the entire 1975 run, one standalone 1974 chapter, & Mikeneko Rock, while the rest of the 1974 run (including the initial two one-shots) wouldn't get collected until 1983 as part of a one-shot collection that also contained Mabudachi Jingi (which the book itself was titled after) & Shiro Obi Taisho.
Sukeban Arashi is a perfect example of what one can call "a mangaka's first serialized manga", at least in the way most would generally assume such a thing would be like. While many mangaka do manage to make their serialized debut strong with a truly iconic work, the vast majority (including many of the most influential & celebrated of all time) simply don't & Masami Kurumada is an example of the latter. It's not that Sukeban Arashi is a "bad" manga, in fact I think it can be a rather fun & amusing little comedy at times, but it is most definitely a rough & uneven one. The 1974 run is mostly comedy, with elements of slapstick to help emphasize the flaws inherent to Rei herself that mostly act as the source of the humor itself, i.e. she's rowdy, impetuous, easily fooled, and a fair bit too willing to forgive at points. Meanwhile, though the 1975 run features more of an actual overarching plot with Shizuka, especially in the latter half, there are still moments where Rei kind of comes off as a bit too repeatedly gullible & trusting, especially when some of Shizuka's early antics are more "cause bodily harm to Rei" than simply "make Rei look like a fool". There are also a number of moments where the tone shifts a bit wildly, like when Rei is forced to protect herself against one of Shizuka's dogs, resulting in Rei literally stabbing the dog's jaw with a broken chair leg before she tosses the dying dog back at Shizuka; everything in the same chapter before & after this moment, though, is mostly comedic. In order to properly rank this manga I also finally read the second half of Volume 2, which I wasn't able to back when I covered Sukeban Arashi via Demo Disc in 2018, and the entire rollerball/soccer game is a mixture of slapstick, social commentary about class warfare (including a literal revolt by Rei's classmates against Shizuka's crew), & even some old-fashioned ideals regarding men & women, all wrapped up in what definitely felt like a case of things needing to finish up due to cancellation. That being said, I still place Sukeban Arashi above Silent Knight Sho for two reasons: The cast in this manga are more interesting & memorable, and it actually has an ending (even if it's undeniably a bit rushed).
While I wouldn't necessarily recommend just anybody to actively hunt down Sukeban Arashi, I do think that people who really do enjoy Masami Kurumada's works should probably still check it out, if only to see how he got his start, professionally. It's certainly flawed, but Rei remains one of Kurumada's most one-of-a-kind main characters (& only partially due to her being a girl), and while it failed to make any impact in Jump it's still neat to experience what I guess one can call "primordial Kurumada", where his Hiroshi Motomiya influence is very prevalent & there are only glimpses of his own (eventual) style here & there.
#11
This one is a bit of an odd duck amongst Kurumada's other works, and that's mainly due to how it was serialized. In short, Raimei no Zaji/Thunder Clap Zaji is similar to Aoi Tori no Shinwa in that the three (technically four) "chapters" comprising it are really more one-shots that simply tie into each other to tell an overarching story. However, there's never really been any sort of consistency when it comes to Zaji's "serialization", as the original one-shot appeared in an issue of Fresh Jump (which was a mix of one-shots & some serialized manga) back in 1983, while the next two installments appeared in issues of Weekly Shonen Jump in 1984... and 1988; yeah, kind of tough to tell a traditional serialized story when there's a four-year gap between two installments. Following those three "chapters", which were then collected as (a slightly thinner) "Volume 1" in 1993, Kurumada wouldn't return to Zaji until 26 years later in 2014, when an eight-page short that (barely) continued the story was made to celebrate the launch of Akita Shoten's web magazine Champion Cross (which was later renamed to Manga Cross, before reverting back to the Champion Cross name again). If anything, the simple fact that Raimei no Zaji was in fact revived in some form instantly puts it above Aoi Tori no Shinwa, Silent Knight Sho, & Sukeban Arashi.
That being said, however, Raimei no Zaji is still only slightly better than those three works. To its credit there is some neat potential in this manga, as while the tale of the titular Zaji, a partially-amnesiac "Hitman" who left the organization he worked for ("Home") & is now hunted after by his former compatriots, is a rather standard one in concept it's in the finer details that make it interesting. Namely, Zaji is seemingly invincible due to his "steel-like body", so much so that in the third "chapter" it actually astonishes Zaji that he takes damage, because up to that point he had started to wonder if he was even human, or if he was actually a cyborg. There's a cool pulp-like feel to Raimei no Zaji that's notably not seen in Kurumada's other works, and the very mystery of Zaji himself & Home gives the entire thing a bit of an enigmatic tone throughout. Clearly Zaji is a good guy, but was he always like that? If not, then why did he change his ways? Why is Zaji's memory so foggy? Why is Home so set against Zaji finding his mother that it's sending out other Hitmen to kill him? Is Zaji actually human, or is he indeed a nigh-indestructible cyborg? There's honestly something to Raimei no Zaji that I find compelling, so much so that I would like to see Kurumada revive it once again (which I can't say about the three previously ranked manga), but the fact that so little of it exists means that I can't rank it any higher than #11; fittingly, Raimei no Zaji & Aoi Tori no Shinwa were re-released together in 2001 as Never End Heroes 1. Should Zaji ever make another comeback, & Kurumada actually gives it a proper run, then it could certainly rise up the ranks in the future.
Also, another reason why Raimei no Zaji ranks above both Silent Knight Sho & Sukeban Arashi is that Zaji actually did help influence the creation of another work, namely Inti Creates' Azure Striker Gunvolt series. Zaji himself was also included in Kurumada Suikoden: Hero of Heroes, a short-lived (& unfinished) crossover manga done by Yun Kouga, but I wouldn't count that too strongly, seeing as B't X never saw any representation in it before going on indefinite hiatus. If nothing else, though, Zaji has a legacy to it, even if only a minute one.
#10
Up next in the ranking is technically another unfinished manga from Masami Kurumada, and in fact it's the last one across both halves. Following the cancellation of Silent Knight Sho in late 1992, which in turn resulted in his outright departure from Shonen Jump, Kurumada would debut one last manga for Shueisha before his exodus for the remainder of the 90s, this one appearing in Super Jump, which would also make this Kurumada's first ever seinen manga. Based (in part) on the historical Shinsengumi of the Bakumatsu, Akane-Iro no Kaze -Shinsengumi Keppu-ki-/Crimson Wind -The Shinsengumi's Bloody Wind Chronicles- was seemingly inspired by Shinsengumi Keppuroku/The Shinsengumi's Bloody Wind Records, a series of 15 short stories written by Ryotaro Shiba throughout 1962 that helped create the modern Japanese veneration & legend of the Shinsengumi itself, which initially were looked at poorly following the dissolution of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1869. Much like Raimei no Zaji previously, Akane-Iro no Kaze's serialization in Super Jump was anything but consistent, with only six chapters being published from late 1993 to late 1994, with the last chapter coming out extremely close to the debut of B't X (& Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Shonen Ace magazine, in general). As for the manga itself, it tells the early days of Okita Soushi as he helps form the Shinsengumi & encounters various other historical figures of the time, including Takasugi Shinsaku & Okada Izo, before "ending" with a mostly fictional two-part story about how Okita acquires the Kiku-Ichimonji, a type of sword that the historical Okita has often been associated with in legend.
Among Kurumada's works, Akane-Iro no Kaze is definitely one of his more unique titles for a few reasons. First, likely due in part to its irregular serialization, each individual chapter of this manga feels rather isolated from each other, despite feeling as though they happen one after the other in order, with only the last two chapters actually being directly connected; this makes it similar to Sukeban Arashi, in that sense. Second, despite having at least one action scene in each chapter, the tone is notably different from Kurumada's usual action fare, lessening the "hot-blooded" feel for something a tad more subdued &, in a sense, realistic; Kurumada might have done this to better match the historical setting. Third, due to the irregular serialization & unfinished nature, Akane-Iro no Kaze really does feel like a "Volume 1" that sets things up more than tells its own story, and that kind of does result in the characters themselves not really feeling like they develop much here. However, Chapter 6 still feels like a decent stopping point, which does lessen the "unfinished" feeling a little bit. Still, the fact that it's more of a character drama makes Akane-Iro no Kaze a rather interesting read from Kurumada, and the fact that this is still from Kurumada's most iconic era of drawing means that it not only looks nice but still looks like "vintage" Kurumada, if you will. It's not necessarily one of Masami Kurumada's "best" manga, but Akane-Iro no Kaze is definitely one of his most interesting, that's for sure, & I think that's enough to just get it into the very bottom of the Top 10.
#9
OK, now we reach the point in the overall rankings where I can actually start wholeheartedly recommending each manga, and we begin with something that I remember really surprising me back when I covered it in 2014. While in the midst of making B't X for Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Shonen Ace, Kurumada also took some time in early 1996 to produce a two-part story for Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan titled Evil Crusher Maya: Emiria no Kyoukai/The Church of Emiria. While in 2001 it was re-released alongside Akane-Iro no Kaze as Never End Heroes 2, Evil Crusher Maya actually tells a complete story across its two parts, namely telling the story of the titular Maya, a mysterious man from the "Land of Dark Knight" who works as an "Evil Crusher", as he's made it his mission to kill demonic creatures known as Evils. Specifically, Maya is summoned by a village that worships Emiria, a man who initially cured the villagers of illness before having a church erected in his name. Emiria soon requests seven girls from the village on each of their 13th birthdays, but before young Nana is sent over as the seventh girl the fathers of the prior girls (as well as Nana's) head over to the church for an explanation... only to have not yet returned; naturally, Nana worries that Evils have gotten involved & calls for Maya to help.
While the overall concept of Evil Crusher Maya is hardly anything unique, and there are definitely some elements re-used from Saint Seiya (like Emiria's henchmen, The Three Magnates, being themed after mythical creatures, with one of them even wearing Cloth-like armor), what puts this short manga so high up the ranking simply comes down to execution. While not original by any means, Evil Crusher Maya is just an excellently told story, with Maya managing to be a compelling character due to his serious demeanor, with a tinge of somberness that comes out due to his own tragic origin that relates him to Evils & the Land of Dark Night. The fact that Evils themselves are monsters also allowed Kurumada to showcase his knack for detailed & monstrous creatures, which he's always been very good at. Then there's the Starlight Bow, Maya's weapon of choice that initially just looks like a bracelet on his left wrist but can expand out into a full-on bow, complete with an arrow meant specifically for it (in comparison to the multi-colored feathers he normally uses, a la Kouu & Shoryu from Fuma no Kojirou), which has a great design to it & helps make Maya more than easily identifiable amongst Kurumada's other leads (taking aside the fact that his design is not based on RnK's Ryuji Takane). Finally, there's just the simple fact that Evil Crusher Maya tells a complete story that ends on a fittingly bittersweet note; sometimes you just want to read a good short story, you know? Personally, I would love to see the Maya character brought back in some form, or even simply rebooted via another artist, because I think there's a lot of cool potential seen here for a longer run serialization, but at the same time I'm more than fine with it remaining a two-part short.
When I initially reviewed Evil Crusher Maya in 2014 there was no English translation at all for it, but in the years since a fan translation did come about. If there's just one short-run Kurumada manga that I would wholeheartedly recommend reading, regardless of whether or not you're familiar with any of this other works, it would be Evil Crusher Maya, if only because you can read it in English right now.
#8
Finally, we end the bottom half of the rankings with what I feel is, easily, the best short-run manga that Masami Kurumada ever made... now if only it had an English translation. Following Evil Crusher Maya there wouldn't be another short-run manga from Kurumada for over 19 years, but that streak would end in 2015 with Ai no Jidai -Ichigo Ichie-/Indigo Period -Once in a Lifetime-, which ran for eight chapters in Akita Shoten's Weekly Shonen Champion in mid-2015 as the finale of Masami Kurumada's 40th Anniversary celebration. Not just that, but Ai no Jidai is completely unlike anything else in Kurumada's catalog, as instead of being focused on action, spectacle, or even comedy (though there is some of the latter here) it's instead 100% a piece of character drama inspired by his own life. Namely, this one-volume manga is a fictionalized retelling of how Kurumada himself became a mangaka, with the character Masami Higashida acting as Kurumada's proxy. It details how Higashida becomes inspired to become a mangaka himself after being given an issue of Shonen Jump by one of his friends, inside of which contained a chapter of Hiroshi Motomiya's Otoko Ippiki Gaki Daisho. Becoming enthralled with Gaki Daisho, & realizing that Motomiya himself was just a regular guy like him, Higashida decides to venture into the industry himself, eventually getting a chance to publish a one-shot in the pages of Weekly Shonen Champion (after getting rejected by Jump itself).
Now, of course, with Kurumada himself stating in the disclaimer at the start of the book that "This story is fiction based on fact," Ai no Jidai is by no means an actual retelling of Kurumada's own journey into manga. The real story saw Kurumada submit a one-shot to Jump & fail, only for him to head to Shueisha's offices & speak with an editor about what he did wrong, which got him a job as an assistant to Ko Inoue for Samurai Giants. Still, going off of what is known of Kurumada's early days & inspirations, this is definitely based on his life in some ways, and that's what makes Ai no Jidai so good. Higashida's story is a fun one to read, as his drive & passion for making manga helps inform as to what Kurumada's own ethos is when it comes to the medium (i.e. "Manga is entertainment!"), and all of the other references to other titles (some direct, others modified for licensing reasons) are fun to see. The bits involving Higashida's friends, one of which is often sick & the other becoming a yakuza, are admittedly nothing too special but help maintain the dramatic tension expected in a Kurumada manga, while the comedic bits seen throughout are enjoyable. For example, a typographical error results in Higashida being forced to use the pen name "Masami Kurumada" (which apparently is a reference to a real typographical error that happened to Kurumada once, calling him "Higashida"), while Higashida gets inspired to make the one-shot "Ring ni Hoero" after seeing Ryuji & Kiku Takane do some training at the boxing gym they live in, though the names are modified just enough to not actually be the RnK characters themselves. Finally, the ending kind of purposefully flies in the face of everything Masami Kurumada's manga tend to focus on as consistent themes, though it matches the subtitle of the manga well, helping make the entire title memorable.
Without a doubt, Ai no Jidai is easily Masami Kurumada's greatest short-run manga, delivering a piece of autobiographical fiction that's unlike pretty much anything else he's ever done. The end result is an outstanding single-volume work of character drama (with some comedy) about making manga that can easily appeal to anyone, regardless of whether or not they have any experience with Kurumada at all, and I'd say that the artwork in Ai no Jidai is some of Kurumada's strongest when it comes to his "modern" era, i.e. post-2000. Unfortunately, there has never been any sort of English translation for Ai no Jidai, official or fan, and sadly with almost anyone only ever caring about Saint Seiya to this very day, despite its history of constantly underperforming in English, I don't think it'll ever get one... and I hate to have to admit that. Seriously, English manga publishers will continue to license Seiya-related manga that will go on for multiple upon multiple volumes, seemingly in a vain effort to finally be the one that will crack the code & magically succeed, yet will leave a self-contained, single-volume work that could potentially appeal to an entirely different audience to be forgotten, despite only turning 10 years old this year, seemingly just because it has no relation to Saint Seiya. Of course, I'll still buy the Seiya-related manga because I'm a fan, I even reviewed the one that Seven Seas put out, but all I'm asking is for something different to be given a shot. I mean, it seemingly worked for Anime Midstream's release of the B't X anime in 2018 & 2019, which from all indications performed better than anyone expected...
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And with that we've come to the end of the lower half of this ranking of Masami Kurumada's "major" works. To be clear, I didn't intend for this ranking to work out exactly so that all of the short-run works would comprise the lower half, while the long-runners would comprise the upper half. That's just how things worked out as I considered how I'd rank each manga against the others, but in all fairness I think that makes sense. Personally, outside of Evil Crusher Maya & Ai no Jidai, I wouldn't necessarily instantly recommend Kurumada's short-run manga, at least to a newcomer. Sure, if you're already a fan of his works & want to try something different out that doesn't require a big investment then I could say that anything other than Aoi Tori no Shinwa & Silent Knight Sho have at least something to them that's worth a go (if you can read Japanese, for most of them, at least). However, if someone was to come to me & say "I've heard of Masami Kurumada, & I am curious to check his stuff out, but I'm hesitant to begin with something really long..." then I can only really recommend either Evil Crusher Maya or Ai no Jidai, and if the person can't read Japanese then it's purely just Maya.
However, with all of the short-run manga out of the way, that now only leaves the main attraction, if you will: Masami Kurumada's long-running manga! So check back next week as I give my personal ranking of all seven of Kurumada's most iconic works... and, yes, that means that I'll finally have to stop putting Saint Seiya, B't X, & Otoko Zaka into an eternal tie for second place & instead properly rank them, for once.
All Manga © Masami Kurumada
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